Racial Equity Commission

Racial Equity Commission February Meeting Minutes Attendance The following members of the Durham Racial Equity Commission met via Zoom on February 15, 2023, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. ● Ernest Smith ● Sheila Mullen ● Lea Efird ● Ramya Krishna ● Ted Rueter ● Jadda Richardson ● Jordan Vereen ● Del Ruff ● Tarik Woods ● Taylor Walker ● Kedrick Lowery ● Delvin Davis ● Jillian Johnson (City Council Liaison) ● Brenda Howerton (County Commission Liaison) ● DeWarren Langley (Guest) ● Donna Frederick (Guest) The following city and county staff were in attendance: ● Sharon Williams (City of Durham) ● Kirsty Fontaine (Durham County) ● Shannon Trapp (Durham County) Ernest Smith called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. 1. Introductions With a quorum confirmed new attendees, including Shannon Trapp (Durham County Staff), introduced themselves to the members of the commission. Previous attendees to the meeting then performed introductions. 2. Approval of January Retreat Notes Ernest Smith opened the floor for any questions and to approve the minutes from January’s In-Person Retreat. Lea Efird made the motion to approve the notes and Sheila Mullen seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously. 3. January Retreat Recap and Debrief Kirsty Fontaine provided a high-level summary and overview (slides linked) of the January 21st In-Person retreat that included the main topic areas covered, activities, and subcommittee updates. For more information on the January Retreat, please click here for the retreat notes. Kirsty then passed it over to Ernest who then opened the floor for comments and reflections on the retreat. Jordan expressed appreciation for the subcommittee time which allowed for the groups to drill down more concretely into their areas of focus and action. Sheila expressed contentment with the organization and flow of the retreat and shared how comfortable and safe the space felt for the full group. She reminded the group that the commission’s efforts would be measured by what the group accomplished, rather than what the group discussed. Jadda and Ernest both reflected to the group that creating time for in-person meetings and convenings would be something they’d like to see more of moving forward. Ernest then passed it over to Sharon for her presentation on decision making. 4. CoD Racial Equity Decision Making Tool Presentation Sharon presented the Racial Equity Decision Making Tool used by the City of Durham as a framework to support each subcommittee in outlining their goals and objectives. The current tool is adaptation of an existing Government Alliance for Racial Equity (GARE) tool. Sharon reaffirmed to the group that the tool was not a static document and that it could continue to be adapted and built upon for their respective purposes. The presentation covered the following: a. Defining an Equity Decision Making Tool b. Components of an Equitable Decision-Making Tool a. Proposal b. Outcomes c. Data/Demographics d. Community Engagement e. Advancing Equitable Impact (Benefit/Burden) f. Minimize Harm g. Accountability For the full slide deck, please click here. Sharon then walked the group through an activity of choosing one area of the tool and discussing the questions associated with that element. Groups were instructed to use their subcommittee work time to complete the activity. Sharon provided a reference guide for the subcommittees to use during their time together. 5. Subcommittee Work Time Subcommittees (Housing, Education, Criminal/Legal) met in their respective groups for 40 minutes. 6. Subcommittee Report Out and Action Items a. Education The group spent time reflecting on the decision-making tool through the lens of one of their goals (the school to prison pipeline) and recognized their need for additional data on discipline and the demographic groups affected. The group also reflected a strong desire to think through any of the possible unintended impacts of addressing discipline, as to make sure additional groups do not then become at risk due to their intervention.  b. Housing The group was able to set up monthly subcommittee meetings (outside of the monthly REC meeting) and drilled down on 4 focus areas:  Supporting cross-sector and jurisdictional collaboration across housing entities to create a shared vision  Housing taxation codes  Tiny homes  Bank of America Racial Equity Homeowner’s Program for Down payment Assistance c. Criminal/Legal The group outlined a game plan grounded in the original Racial Equity Task Force report as an anchor. Their first step would be to collect some data to paint a picture of the current landscape of Durham as preparation and a frame for community conversations that seek to pull together organizations and entities that are already engaged in and impacted by this work. 7. Announcements Ramya shared with the group that the REC newsletter would be forthcoming. She also reminded folks to be mindful of the deadlines included in the newsletter so that content could reflect the perspectives and insight of the full group. Sharon shared a Black History Month Proclamation would be recognized at the upcoming City Council Meeting at 7 pm on February 20th. Because of the nature of REC’s work, Sharon extended an invitation to have representatives from the REC to receive the proclamation as an opportunity to introduce the commission and their work more broadly. The group discussed and decided that outside community members would be welcome to join monthly meetings (per the commission bylaws) but public attendance at separately held subcommittee meetings would be up to the discretion of each subcommittee. 8. Adjournment Ted Rueter made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Sheila Mullen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m.